


Back to Action!

by FawnoftheWoods



Series: Not Alone Anymore [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Crime Fighting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-06 12:53:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12211692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FawnoftheWoods/pseuds/FawnoftheWoods
Summary: Its the first real mission for the avengers since the Chitauri learned their lesson.  Their training really did pay off.





	1. The Fight

Nearly two monthes after the the assasitwins moved in, they got their first contact from SHIELD.

Thor and Steve were learning about the complexities of google searches from Natasha, while Clint sat nearby snarking responses when Tony strode into the main room growling.  Bruce was barely a few steps behind him, trying not to grin.

“Alright JARVIS, go ahead.”  All of the Avengers blinked as the TV turned on and an image of Fury appeared.  Clint and Tasha tensed up subtly.  The others must have noticed because Bruce stepped in front of Tasha and Thor in front of Clint.  Steve stood and took point.

“Director Fury?”  

“You don’t call, you don’t write, you block me, I’m starting to think my Avengers don’t like me.” Fury huffed at them.  Tony just silently held his ground when some of the others glanced at him.  Steve was not one of them.  They were a team and he would back Tony, though later he would ask what was going on.

“We are not part of SHIELD, Director.  Now what can we help you with?”  

Fury frowned at him in mild confusion.   “I don’t know if you’ve had the news on in the last 20 minutes, but Tampa just got invaded by something numerous, large and pink.  Any chance the hero group of the year could assist?”  They all looked at Steve.  He made their calls, he was the leader.  

Throughout the weeks they had had the time to establish a general team dynamic.  Steve had insisted on training together, as pairs, trios and then as all 6, though that was usually an all-day event on some remote location.

“We’ll be there.”

Tony was already calling up their quinjet and Clint and Tasha had disappeared to change.  Steve directed Fury to send the information to Tony and they would be briefed enroute.  Bruce had obviously already headed for the quinjet with Tony, the two of them discussing something.  Thor had been standing by waiting for Steve to finish talking with Fury.  As the only other person with leadership experience on the battlefield, Thor had fallen into the role of support for Steve in that sense.  Just like Tony took over leadership when it was a technical thing with Bruce in support.  With each of them paired, it was easy to divide into smaller teams when necessary.

Steve and Thor were similar as was Clint and Natasha.  Bruce and Tony were obvious partners.  In the field they could pair up this way, or they would divide each pair in half so each group had each advantage.  Smaller battles, they had more freeform.  

“Banner should stay on the jet until we know what we’re dealing with.  If Iron Man is with us, Banner is the only one that can run any sort of analysis.”  Thor nodded.

“Agreed.  We should leave Widow with Banner.  If these things are as numerous as Director Fury said, we will need Hawk’s eyes.”   Captain America nodded as he pulled on his uniform, Thor was waiting by the door.

“I’ll stay near the jet, you roam this time?”  Thor nodded.  They stopped the elevator at his floor and waited the moment it took Mjolnir to come to his hand, automatically adding his armor.  It had taken Tony 2 days and 6 lectures to convince Thor to only Call Mjolnir through a wall if absolutely necessary.  Hawkeye and Widow joined them in the elevator on each floor and they landed at the pad on the roof.  Iron man was standing next to a suitcase that contained his suit as he and Banner opened the briefing Fury had sent.

The flight there was punctuated with information sharing.  Apparently these things, they weren’t sure of sentience yet, were emerging from a dimensional hole near an energy lab.  Captain America grimaced at the thought, but directed Iron man that way as soon as they landed.  Bruce was to study the ones already roaming in an effort to find a weakness and to understand them.

When they got there, Hawk put the quinjet on autopilot for Widow and jumped on Thor’s shoulder for the godling to drop him off.  Captain nodded to the two teammates remaining behind and leaped to the ground five stories down just as Iron Man jetted off.

“Captain, These things are targeting the buildings, not the people.  If we can clear the area, I don’t think they’ll go after them.”  Hawk’s information was met with relief as Captain America interfaced with the police force on the scene.  

He still had several to fight, but like the report said, he couldn’t figure out if these blobs had intelligence or were just rolling blobs with appendages.  Still, after defeating his first group, he took a piece, which squished grossly in his hand, and hurled it at the quinjet.  Widow was waiting with a jar to catch the mess.

“Hey Bruce, remind me when I get home to review my funding of private bio-labs.”  Ironman’s grunt was heard over the comms as he made his way to the center of the problem.

“Ironman, grab any notes on these things, they’re doing something interesting with electricity.”  Banner’s calm voice made Captain America snort, those two were scientists in any guise.  So bloody distractible.  Hawk’s comment was more on point.

“They are eating it, that’s what they’re doing.  Cap, these things are going for the powerlines on the buildings.”  

“That explains why they would randomly attack human’s.  Human’s do have miniscule amounts of electricity in their bodies naturally.”  Banner’s comment was definitely absent minded or he would have caught on faster than Captain America to the major problem with that.

“Ironman, Thor watch it!  These things LIKE electricity!”  They all heard an oomph from Ironman as he reported the lab no longer productive and was heading back to the city.  Banner’s next comment was welcome as well, or would have been had he understood it “They are very dilatant!”

“Banner, speak English!”  He could practically hear Ironman rolling his eyes at Hawk and Captain’s growl.

“They are shear thickening on the molecular level.  You need more than a cubic foot of material to form movement apparently.”  Even Thor growled at Bruce’s explanation as he fell back, Mjolnir flying from his hand.

“He means, hit them and they break.  Break them small and they stop moving Capta-“  Ironman’s commentary cut off as the same time as Captain heard Thor cry out in pain.

“Iron man and Thor just went down.  They’re both buried under a mountain of those things!”  Hawk’s voice was becoming frantic as Captain made his way towards Thor.

“Hulk, can you and Widow get to Ironman?”  Captain America didn’t hear the answer as he was tackled by a pink blob.  Hitting them with his shield had worked better than his fists so far.  The blob’s electricity shorted out his comm as they forced him back.  The city had finally managed to cut off the power, so they were the only sources left of electricity.

Hearing a pain cry, he glanced over to see Thor scrambling to get away as lightning struck from the sky repeatedly, his body covered in red marks where they appeared to pulling the lightening directly through his skin.

His own shield was imbedded in a truck on the other side of the street, but he saw Mjolnir on the ground nearby.  Gritting his teeth, he tore himself away from the scratch of these thing’s suction and dove for the hammer.  

_ -Flashback- _

They had all taken their dishes in and for a moment Steve was alone with the Hammer.  He chuckled at the magic of it all.  Of course only a godling like Thor would be worthy.  The man was the most forgiving, non-judgmental man he had ever met, assuming he wasn’t too angry to think straight.  He was also one of the most honorable and protective.  If that was what it meant to be Thor, then no one else should measure up.  

He blushed as he also recalled his other thoughts about his friend.  The man was well built and Steve didn’t see any harm in thinking so.  He knew it was wrong to think about a man this way, it was to be limited to a woman for him, but he couldn’t help it if his artistic eye saw both forms as beautiful.  He had long ago made peace with the idea that either gender could get him excited.  Bucky had helped with that, talking about it while on missions as Captain America.  

He sighed and glanced at the weapon that was sitting on his report.  Grimacing he wondered if he could scoot them out from under the hammer.  Sighing, he prepared to try to nudge the hammer enough to slide it out, when, to his surprise, he actually lifted it a few inches.

It was ungodly heavy, no pun intended.  But he was in fact, lifting it.  It surprised him so much that he promptly dropped it again.

_ -End Flashback- _

Steve hadn’t told Thor.  It wasn’t important in his mind, he was no prince of Asgard or any other realm, he was a soldier on Earth.  Besides the Prince was proud of his ability with it.  So Steve had ignored the whole thing and pointedly did not lift it when he could no longer avoid the prodding of his teammates.

Gritting his teeth, since it was still ungodly heavy, he used his momentum to carry him to Thor and crash through the mountain on top of his teammate.

Thor looked up as the horde abated to see Captain America had come to help even the field a little and guard his back, where they had attacked him before.  He punched at them fiercely trying to get a moment peace so he could summon Mjolnir back from wherever it had fell when he saw the shield.  Captain America’s Shield was embedded in a vehicle a few feet from the Asgardian’s location.  Glancing back at his teammate to ensure he was doing okay without his weapon of choice only to freeze momentarily, watching as Steve swung Mjolnir around clumsily.

A hit from a blob forced him to push that to the back of his mind as he leaped for the shield, simply thankful Captain America was doing all right.  Fighting with it, he made his way back to his leader.  Once they were back to back he grinned and turn to his left.

“Shall we switch weapons?”  Captain America glanced back and in a moment of battle that could not have been choreographed better, they threw each other’s weapons at each other and continued without missing a beat.

Steve huffed as he fell into the more familiar swing of his shield and kept his back to Thor as the two of them practically danced around each other.  He had found a partner in Thor that he hadn’t found in anyone else, ever.  Before the serum he was weaker than everyone and after everyone else was weaker than him.  Thor, on the other hand was stronger than him, but not by enough to make it decisive and he didn’t have the agility that the serum gave him, giving him that edge.  

Between the two of them, they cleared and area quickly enough.  Hawk joined them as they heaved, looking for any they had missed.

“You guys lost your comm-links?”  Captain America just leaned on his knees and huffed as Thor explained how the pink blobs had electrocuted them.

“That sucks, but never mind.  Iron man’s down and Hulk is not happy.”

\--

Natasha and Bruce were racing to Ironman before Captain America even said anything.  Hawk still had them in sight when their comms died.  Ironman’s com was part of his suit, so it didn’t short circuit.  A moment later the jet was filled with Tony’s tortured cries.

Bruce moved to the back of the jet, feeling his alter ego push at his restraints.  “Open the hatch.”  Widow glanced back, but opened the hatch without question.  During the training they had all tried to interact with the green guy and they were fairly comfortable believing that barring any temper tantrums, Hulk would work with the Avengers to a certain extent.

She hoped it worked as Tony’s screams broke into pleas.  Bruce lost the battle, or gave it up, and let himself fall out of the jet, aiming straight for Iron Man.   _ Save Tony! _

Hulk landed and roared as he made for the mountain of pink.  “Save Metal Man!”

Battling the creatures away took more time and frustrated him as he made his way to Ironman’s location.  Ironman was flat on his back.  The electricity had fused the suit to what looked like a melted car.  Hulk leaned over him as soon as he reach Ironman and pulled the pink off him.  The last one was attached directly the blue light on his chest and Hulk roared as he clapped it out of existence.  

“Leave Metal Man alone!”  Metal Man’s mask was off and he was shaking in his suit as Hulk cleared an area the size of a basketball court.  Turning to cover metal man, Hulk growled when metal man couldn’t talk to him.  Blue chest light looked wrong as well.  Glancing around, Hulk roared at the pink blobs, but they were slow in returning, Puny Banner had time to fix Metal Man.

Bruce nearly fell over as he was forced out dramatically, almost falling on Tony.  Blinking at his apparent danger, wondering at the return.  He heard a terrified whimper and he looked over to see Tony barely conscious, fighting to breathe and to be released from his suit.  The arc reactor was hanging out of his chest, sending a shock into his heart every time it touched the side of the metal housing.  Cursing, he hurried to his side and slowly lifted the reactor and replaced it in place.  Tony let out a tortured moan when he picked up to replace it and gave a strangled whimper when it was in place.

“Tony?”  Tony opened his eyes to lock his gaze with Bruce’s.  His first attempt was nothing but a croak.  He swallowed to try again.

“Saved by the handsome prince.”  Bruce grinned at that, looking down at his habitual lack of clothes, wearing only the shorts Tony had given him that expanded with him.  They both heard a sound and looked over to see those things coming back.  Bruce looked back to see Tony’s eyes dilate in fear as he cursed and struggled to get free of his suit, to not be helpless.  There was no way he could though.  Only Hulk, or Thor could free him, maybe Cap.  He knelt in front of Tony.  

“Tony?”  Tony winced, fear banking slightly as he focused on his friend.  “Its okay, Bruce.  Hulk likes me.  I trust you.”  Bruce bit his lip, obviously fighting the transformation.  Tony glanced at the pink blobs coming.  Struggling even more now, “Bruce, trust me.”

“You said you trusted the Other guy.”  Tony focused on him as he let the Other guy come back.  Tony’s fear was enough for him to try this.  The Other Guy had shown in training that he liked Tony and Iron Man, even when in smash mode.  Tony couldn’t get free, it would be up to him until Tasha could get Cap and Thor here.

“Trust.”  He let himself grow, sending all his energy to the Other Guy, telling him to Protect Tony.  Hulk blinked at Metal Man as he struggled to get free of the car.  He saw the pink blobs returning.

Hulk roared in defiance.  “No Hurt METAL MAN!!!”  The pink blobs were easy to smash.  They were very puny, but there were a lot of them and Hulk remembered how they hurt Metal Man.  Metal man was good.  Metal Man like Hulk.  Metal Man like Banner.  Hulk protect Metal Man!

As the pink blobs reduced in numbers Hulk noticed Little Red coming closer.  He roared, no one should hurt Metal Man.  By the time he saw the rest of the team, the pink blobs were gone, Strong Hammer helping him to smash.

“Hulk, we need to free Iron Man.”  Hulk roared as Star Man came too close.  He retreated to where Metal Man was still stuck.  Digging his arms into the car, he pulled Metal Man free very carefully.  Metal Man was fragile without metal on his body.  He gently lifted the trembling form out of the car.  Placing a hand under Metal Man’s body, he gently lifted, listening for sounds of pain beyond the fear pouring off the little man.  

Tony helped to extricate himself from the wreckage that was his suit and let Hulk manhandle him into his arms.  He was still shaking slightly from the repeated heart seizures and from nearly going into shock.  “Hey Big Guy, you can set me down.  They are safe.”  Hulk grunted.

“Hulk protect Metal Man.”  Tony nodded, letting himself lean against Hulk’s chest and listening to his heart beat as he breathed.

“You did protect me.  Now I need to speak with our team.  I need Bruce to heal me.”  Hulk blinked at him, frowning.  He held Tony close again as he looked around.  The other teammates were giving them space.  One time during training a cliff had fallen on Iron Man and Hulk didn’t like anyone near them until he was certain Tony was fine.

Hulk pulled Tony closer a moment before closing his eyes and shrank.  Tony hissed slightly as he was set on the ground and in a flash Thor and Captain America were next to them.  Tasha was pulling the Quinjet closer as Bruce groaned.

“Easy, Friend Bruce.  We are all safe.  Sleep and recover.”  Thor’s rumbling voice seemed to sooth the physicist back to sleep.  Tony winced as Steve helped him up.  However, once on his feet, Tony discovered he was about as mobile as Bruce.  Steve didn’t even hesitate to lift the limp man into his arms.  Tony struggled to stay awake as the jet took off, but it was telling on his face and Steve finally sat next to him.

“Rest, Tony.  Both you and Bruce are safe.  We won’t leave you alone.”  Tony glanced at Steve and wondered just how much the man knew.  Tony wanted to keep fighting, but a glance at Thor showed him nodding as well and he slowly let himself fall into sweet, painless darkness.


	2. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Team now has to start figuring out the raw edges after a battle around each other

Bruce groaned as he returned to the world.  Taking a quick check, he’s clothed, comfortable and warm, so not in the middle of nowhere, a definite plus.  And not captured, double plus.  There’s voices, laughter.  A moment later he recognized Clint’s faint voice as he struggles his way to consciousness, remembering the last image he had of Tony.

“Easy, Bruce.  We’re at the Tower, you’ve been out 9 hours.”  He jerks back and looks at the blob that resolved itself into Captain America.  He gathers himself mentally as he looks around, biting his tongue to keep from asking his habitual question.  The last time he had asked, he had gotten scolded.  Instead he goes for a more important question right now anyway.  “Anyone hurt?”

“Some soreness for the two spies.  Thor and I both have pulled muscles that are healing.  Thor has a few minor burns from the electricity.”  

Steve hesitated and Bruce sat up on the side of the bed.  “And Tony?”

“Tony seems fine for the most part.”  Bruce glared at him as he sighed and sat back down to continue.  “We’re actually hoping you can figure out what’s going on.  Those creatures pulled the Arc Reactor out of his chest and were suckling on it according to JARVIS.”  Bruce paled slightly, remembering the story Tony told him one evening about Obidah Stane.  “He claims that Arc is functioning normally and it didn’t actually damage his heart.  But …”  Steve seemed uncertain here.

“JARVIS finally over rode the lock out in the lab this morning.  I tried to talk him into eating something.  All he did was tell me to go away, rather forcefully.”  Steve rubbed his shoulder.  “He’s not inventing, he’s just sitting on the couch with one of his hand blaster things.”  

“He’s upset, but I don’t know what to do.”  Steve frowned in frustration.  

Bruce ran a hand through his hair.  “I do.  Listen, I need a quick shower.  Can you fix Tony and me some lunch?  Tony needs oatmeal, JARVIS knows the recipe.”  Steve nodded.  Bruce knew Steve could cook.  As a child, he had to, what with his parent’s rather early death.  With JARVIS’s help, he should be able to work the kitchen.

“Sure, sweats are at the end of the bed.”  Their medical area had a shower since most of them healed quickly enough to need one soon after entering.  Bruce smiled fondly, Tony thought of everything.

Bruce was showered and dressed by the time the oatmeal was ready.  He took the two bowls and headed to the lab.  JARVIS was good enough to open the doors for him and he set the food on the work table and made his way over to where Tony was sitting.  Dum-E was handing him a tennis ball and he was ignoring the bot for the moment.  Bruce saw him glance his way before looking down again.  Bruce knelt in front of the balled form of the inventor.

“I brought some Oatmeal.  JARVIS got Steve to put in brown sugar and jam.”  Tony didn’t react.  Bruce placed a hand on his ankle.  He had lost his shoes and socks somewhere.  Tony’s body tensed up a moment before the brown eyes peeked over his knees.

“You aren’t alone anymore, Tony.”  This was something Bruce had learned over the past weeks.  JARVIS, while indeed an acronym, was also the name of the butler who had practically raised Tony.  He had been there for the young genius through his childhood, his parents death all the way until his death shortly after Tony turned 16.  He had actually met the previous versions of JARVIS, who was christened two weeks following the man’s death.  Tony had told him about the man one night while they upgraded JARVIS’s system.  In an unguarded moment, Tony admitted that the man had made him feel not alone.

Tony seemed to watch him warily.  “You are not alone, Tony.”  Bruce slow let his hands trail up Tony’s pajama covered legs to reach his arms.  “Tony, you are not alone.”  He gently rubbed the chilled arms as the inventor slowly relaxed.  A click had the gauntlet powering down, and Bruce gently removed it and placed it gently on the floor next to his knee.

“We are all here for you, Tony.  You are not alone.” Tony finally leaned forward and let Bruce hold him.  “I got you, Tony.  You’re not alone.”  Bruce slowly lifted them onto the couch and let Tony lean against him.  He gently stroked his hair, feeling the trembles skitter through the man’s frame.

000

Steve found Thor sitting on the roof of the tower.  He had checked in with Natasha and Clint.  They were doing fine, Natasha was helping Clint stretch the pain out of his sore muscles.  She herself was uninjured, having stayed with Banner most of the fight.

He had glanced in the lab to see Bruce and Tony laying on the couch, Bruce simply holding Tony as he slowly ate the oatmeal.  That recipe made Steve shudder, who the hell put blueberry Jam in their oatmeal.   _Yuck_!  Still Bruce was obviously succeeding in convincing the inventor of eating and the physicist himself was recovering normally from a double transformation according to the records he gave them about his transformation.

That had left Thor.

The godling was the last one he found partially because he was the last one he went looking for.  He hadn’t ever planned to tell the man he could lift his weapon.  It’s choosy-ness was one of the things Thor was quite proud of.

“You should sit, Friend Steve.”  Steve was pulled out of his thoughts by the topic of said thoughts.  He smiled and walked forward gingerly.  He would have a few days of sore before his serum-enhanced body caught up with the aches and pains from this last battle.

I was wondering where you had disappeared to.”  He sat next to his friend and waited.  Thor obviously had much on his mind.

“I wished to see the sky.” Thor heaved a sigh.  Steve looked up at the stars, realizing that Thor’s home was a great distance from here.   “I was always the only one to lift Mjolnir besides my father.  Now with the new enchantment, I am really the only one to lift it.  Even my father says it has grown heavier to him.  He claimed that was the mark of my destiny to ascend to his throne.”  Steve nodded, feeling guilty over this, but not sure what to do.  He couldn’t regret saving his friend.

“I am glad to share this burden with you."  At Thor's proclamation, Steve’s head whipped around so fast, he almost unbalanced.

“What?”  

Thor smiled up at the sky as the first stars peeked out.   “You will not ascend the throne of Asgard, but I am glad to meet another worthy of its throne.  It makes us of the same heart.”  Thor grinned at Steve and he felt his heart ease.

“Glad to help.”

Thor chuckled and hit him on his shoulder.   “Now you must train with it!”  

Steve smiled, rubbing his shoulder gingerly.  This would be fun.

000

Tony didn’t speak throughout eating, letting Bruce chatter about gamma radiation.  Once done, he seemed content to simply sit in Bruce’s arms until something compelled him to speak.

“My first reactor had a palladium core.” 

 Bruce blinked a moment, before tensing, realizing exactly what that meant.  “Christ, Tony!”  

Tony chuckled.   “It wasn’t fun, that’s for sure.  I couldn’t tell anyone.  Fury and SHIELD figured it out on their own, but I had no one I could tell, though I did try with Pepper.”  Bruce felt the billionaire take a deep breath.  

“I’m not an Avenger, you know.”  

Bruce froze.  Tensing, he tried to sit up, to face the man,  “What?  Tony of course you ar-“

“No, I meant, SHIELD’s Avenger’s.  I didn’t qualify.  Iron Man did, but not Tony Stark.”  Tony chuckled darkly.  Bruce blinked at him in confusion.  “Apparently I’m compulsive, self-destructive, and display ‘textbook narcissism’.  Which eliminated me from consideration.”  

Tony frowned.   “I asked Tasha about it last week.  I wanted to know if her opinion had changed.”  Bruce felt a bit of anger well up at the assassin, “When I recited her report, she went all quiet.  Turns out I trusted SHIELD a bit too much.  Which, I mean really?  I trust them about as far as Nick can see out of that one bad eye of his.  But even I thought this would be paranoid.  That wasn’t all her report said.  Apparently her report continued to say that she didn’t think Tony Stark could be  _ publically _ with the Avengers, but Iron man would be a great asset.”  Bruce grunted and Tony quieted a moment to listen.

“I don’t understand, how did you get involved then?”  

Tony snorted.   “They wanted me on a consultant status.  Tasha looked into it with JARVIS while she was trying to track down the kill order for her and Clint.  They only wanted the Iron Man suit, not me.  I could be an inventor, like my father, but not…  Tasha nearly threw the screen across the room at the information.  Apparently she had gone back a bit later to amend the report to recommend me now that the side effects of the palladium poisoning were fading.”  Bruce did sit up this time in surprise.

“Wait, they were evaluating you while you were being poisoned?  And they knew about it?”  

Tony blinked at him before smirking and nodding.   “Fury had my dad’s notes that included how to make this,”  He tapped his reactor, “They knew.  Fury and Tasha approached me with a dose of Lithium Dioxide, which hurt like a bitch by the way, and a box of my dad’s stuff and then put me under poorly executed house arrest.”  Bruce was now gaping at him.

“Poorly executed…Lithium dioxide…They drugged and caged you?!?” 

Tony looked at him in surprise.   “What?  No, not exactly.  Coulsen was-Coulsen was my babysitter in my own house, I mean come on, I could have left anytime I wanted to.  And the Lithium dioxide did fight back the poison enough to give me a few more days at least.”  Bruce’s mouth was tight as he removed his glasses and rubbed his forehead.  “Bruce, its fine.”  

“No Tony, this is many things, but fine isn’t one of them.”  Brown/green eyes met his confused gaze.  Tony fell silent at the unexpected anger.  “Does Natasha feel this way now?”  

Tony shook his head.   “No, she said that she now believes in a full recommendation if and only if the Avengers are a free agent.  SHIELD is too big brother for her right now.”  Tony watched as Bruce considered this.  His mutter brought a smile to the green-tinged man,  “The fact that they tried to terminate her employment probably helps.”

“Tony, you are an Avenger.”  Bruce leveled him with a stern gaze.

“Darn Right!”  Both men turned to look at Steve as the man entered with Tasha.  Tony rolled his eyes, before hiding his face in the couch cushion.  

Tasha looked at a grumbly Bruce.   “I looked up the side effects of the poisoning after that initial report.  When I went to tell Fury, he said he had already taken that into account.  The Council didn’t want Tony, and Fury thought Tony was more helpful as a free entity, not bound to SHIELD.”  Tony glanced at her in surprise.

Steve looked between them.  “I actually got a report on you.  It was very different than what Tasha said she wrote.  I don’t think Tasha and Clint were the first Avengers the Council attacked.  You were.”  Tony looked between them both.  He glanced down and away briefly and Bruce smiled at the embarrassed but pleased gesture.

“We should eat lunch.  Have you eaten lunch?  I’ll make grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch.  Come on!  Where’s Clint and Thor?”  

Steve broke into the ramble that Tony was known for when he was being emotional in a group.   “They are waiting for us in the kitchen.  We actually came to get you guys for lunch.”  Tony smiled and stood, pulling Bruce up.  Bruce let himself be pulled, grinning at Tony’s enthusiasm for a change in topic if not lunch.

But he would never forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to address Tasha's relationship beginning with Tony


End file.
